The Bayern women narrowly avoided an embarrassment in the DFB Cup. The defending champions came from behind late in the game against second-division side Gladbach.
The FC Bayern women’s team narrowly avoided a rough start to the DFB Cup. Against second-division side Borussia Mönchengladbach, the heavy favorites trailed 0–1 for much of the match but, after a significant improvement in their performance in the second half, managed to pull off a 2–1 victory.
In front of 6,608 spectators at Borussia-Park, Bayern coach José Barcala initially rested numerous regular starters. Eight players who had started in the 2–2 Champions League draw against Manchester City earlier in the week were not in the starting lineup. Among them, Giulia Gwinn, Klara Bühl, and Pernille Harder initially took their places on the bench.
The heavily reshuffled Bayern lineup struggled greatly against the hosts’ spirited play. Mia Giesen hit the crossbar with a header after 15 minutes and, just two minutes later, sent another shot just wide of the Munich goal.
Shortly before halftime, the underdog’s spirited performance was finally rewarded. Following a corner kick by Imke Kessler, Luca Stark put Gladbach ahead 1–0 in stoppage time of the first half.
Gilles and Bühl save the Bayern women
After the break, Barcala reacted and gradually brought on his established players. This significantly increased the pressure from the Munich team—and in the closing stages, the game turned around within a matter of minutes.
In the 74th minute, substitute Bühl took a corner into the penalty area, which Vanessa Gilles converted to make it 1–1. Just six minutes later, the same combination worked again: Bühl took another corner kick, and Gilles was once again on hand to score the 2–1 goal for FC Bayern.
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This ultimately averted the looming cup embarrassment. Gladbach had posed significant problems for the defending champions for long stretches of the game and, until a quarter of an hour before the end, could even dream of a major upset.
For the Bayern women, advancing to the next round is what matters most in the end. However, the performance in Gladbach also showed how quickly things can get dangerous—even against a lower-division opponent—when numerous key players are rested at the same time. It was only with the added quality from the bench that the favorites managed to avoid being knocked out of the cup.